About two minutes into the second quarter of Friday’s game against Cleveland, Raptors guard Cory Joseph passed his career high for minutes played in a single season.

The increased workload hasn’t worn him out. Actually, Joseph has never played better and has been a key reason why the team has a comfortable grip on second place in the Eastern Conference.

Joseph is posting career-highs in nearly every category and has powered the NBA’s third-best bench, mixing steady offensive play with outstanding defence.

“He’s one of the most tenacious defenders in our league, on the ball,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said of Joseph earlier Friday.

Teammate Patrick Patterson knew Joseph could defend, having seen his work in limited minutes in San Antonio, but Joseph’s all-around game has been eye-opening.

“All I knew about was his defence, his ferociousness on the ball, causing havoc and making the guard uncomfortable there on the perimeter,” Patterson said.

“And his toughness, you have to be tough to play for (Gregg Popovich) and I was aware of that. But his (abilities) on the offensive side of the court, I wasn’t aware of. Him just doing it game in and game out has been extremely impressive and it has helped us quite a bit.”

Joseph’s +279 mark heading into the game ranked second on the team, just ahead of Lowry and behind only Patterson and was sixth in the entire NBA.

“I knew he could do that. I’m not surprised at all,” fellow Greater Toronto Area native Tristan Thompson said, pointing out Joseph was playing behind a couple of solid guards while with the Spurs.

“Tony Parker is a hall of famer, Patty Mills is a huge spark for them (Mills ranks second in the league this season amongst reserves at +371), he just had to wait his turn. He showed he can play the big minutes and contribute to a winning team (when he filled in as a starter and the Spurs maintained a solid record), now he’s on the Raptors and doing the same thing, so, I’m happy for him.”